All For You
by may cantaloupe
Summary: Eric felt something falling on the tip of his nose. Snow. He felt his heart aching and just stood there, while the snow caressed him and made him wonder if he was ever to see snow again in his life without this unbearable weight on his chest.
1. All For Her

**Don't own any of the characters, or else I would be spending all my earned money instead of writing this hahaha.**

She felt numb. She heard the priest mumbling something but couldn't make out the words. She looked through the crowd but didn't really see a thing, she got up and a crown was put in her head, still she felt nothing. She heard William's voice scream something, which was soon accompanied by everybody present cheerfully. She saw a movement in the back of the room and his mighty figure approaching, and she went out of her numbness, to pain.

"_I'm leaving" _He'd said to her the night before. She felt her eyes tearing up once more, but fought against it. She thought about asking him not to go. She spent the whole night struggling on her inside whether she should ask him to stay or not. She ended up deciding against it, figuring she was in no position of asking anything of him; after all he has already done for her.

Seeing him right now, she painfully regretted it. He smiled to her and held her gaze, then turned around and left. And the whole room suddenly got to cold, and she felt her body shivering, her mind racing. But the only things she could really think of was _don't go._

She saw the guards raising up their swords for her to pass, and so she did, pacing gracefully through the hallway as fast as she could, and when the doors of the room where the coronation had been held closed behind her, she began running, praying to all Gods she could remember it wasn't too late.

* * *

He didn't really _want_ to leave. Neither did he have too. Actually, a big part of him wouldn't mind staying at all, if it meant seeing her every day. But then, the other part of him remembered him that one day, staying would mean seeing her every single day of his life with William. And seeing them kiss, and hold hands, and look at each other passionately, and seeing her carry his child, and grow old happy together. And _that_, he thought, shaking his head, he could not do.

_"Ye're makin' a mistake, huntsman." _One of the dwarves had said to him. Which one he could not tell, so drunk he was. He had been sober since the day she awoke, or better, he woke her up. But after speaking to Snow, and seeing the way she looked at him when he told her of his departure, he couldn't help it. So he went to the dwarves and drank and ate and talked to them, and at some point one of them told him he should stay. He chuckled at the memory, one of the few he had from last night. Mistake or no mistake, he could not stay to have his heart slowly ripped off him.

He reached the end of the long hallway that led to the entrance of the palace, his belongings on a small sack he carried in his hands. The guards opened the doors for him to pass, and he was gone.

* * *

Faster and faster she went, but it wasn't enough. It would only be enough when she had reached him, and convinced him to stay and take her in him arms and never let go of her again.

So she ran, ignoring the burning sensation on her aching lungs, and the pain that shot through her legs every time her feet hit the ground. She had taken her shoes off, for they were getting in her way, and lifted her skirts almost to her knees.

She passed several guards and servants, who reacted with horror or good humor at the young queen running the palace hallways desperately.

Faster and faster she went, every step she took like a mantra trying to get to him.

* * *

He had gotten to the last step of the staircase of the palace entrance when he felt something falling on the tip of his nose. He looked up and saw many more of it coming towards him. _Snow_. He felt his heart aching and just stood there, while the snow caressed him and made him wonder if he was ever to see snow again in his life without this unbearable weight on his chest.

He heard the palace doors open, but didn't care to look at what was happening. Nothing in this moment was more important to him than snow.

She passed the open doors, and saw him standing there, watching the snow fall and brush through him. She took a few moments to catch her breath and when her heart had reach a close-to-normal rhythm, she spoke.

"Huntsman"

Her voice echoed in his heart, and he slowly came back from his daydream. Opening his eyes, he turned to her. He didn't say anything, neither did he smile. He just watched her as she got closer to him, descended the steps that separated them, stopping at the one right above him, making them almost the same height.

"Stay" She pleaded. And it made his whole body ache. Because he wanted nothing more than to stay with her. But it wasn't his place, he knew that.

He still didn't move, so she kept going trying to desperately to convince him"

"Please, stay with me, huntsman. You are the only one I really trust. You can have the position of captain of the guard. I don't really know how much it earns, but if it is not enough for you we can figure something out. Because, to speak the truth, now that I've grown accustomed to have you by my side I don't think I can live without your presence. "

She could swear he saw his eyes shining with hope, before they got clouded again.

"What of the Duke's son? He is your oldest friend, he can protect you alright, especially once you get married." Her eyes grew wide at this and she got the closer she could without touching him.

"Married? I will not marry William! He is indeed my oldest friend, and that is how I plan to keep him. An old friend. For I refuse to get married unless it is for love, and love, huntsman, I only feel for you." He grabbed both of her hands that had start swinging angrily in the air with her speech.

"Snow White" she was breathing heavily and looking down, rather embarrassed for revealing her feelings. "Look at me" He got closer to her, and pressed his forehead to hers causing her to look up into his eyes. "If it means so much to you I'll take the position of captain of whatever. And honestly I don't care if you don't pay me at all as long as you grant me the right to stay by your side forever"

She smiled at him "But eventually that would mean you'd have to become king. Would you really consider leave your reckless life to be my king?" she teased him, putting her hands around his neck.

He laughed and caught her by the waist.

"Girl, I went hell and back in this little adventure, I don't think there's anything left I wouldn't do for you"

**Read and review, s'il vous plait :). English not my mother language so if you find any gross mistakes feel free to correct me.**


	2. All For Him

**Sooooo, it was to be a one shot really, but I got so many nice reviews I got inspired. It's not going to be very long though, maybe two or three more chapters.**

Eric sat up in the bed, breathing rapidly and sweating from the nightmare he had. He looked around eagerly his heart pounding on his ears until his eyes rested on the beauty sleeping peacefully by his side. Her sight soothed him, he took deep breaths while he tried to shake the images off his head, with little success. It wasn't very often he had those dreams, but whenever he had them, he was terrified. They all came down to one thing: losing her. Sometimes he lost her to William, at others, his kiss didn't work and she never came back.

He laid back down again, pulling her tightly against him and kissing her hair gently, when she snuggled up to him. He smiled as an idea crept into his thoughts, and a sigh escaped his lips when he realized she wouldn't like it at all when he left tomorrow morning without telling her; but it had to be done, and so be it.

* * *

_Where was he?_ He had been gone when she woke up, and since the sheets were already cold she figured he had been gone for long. She had had breakfast, council meetings, audiences with the people, leisure time, and still no sight of him. She asked for him all around but no one seemed to have seen him all day.

When the afternoon was almost over she began to despair, only to think herself ridiculous worrying about a man that had left her. As soon as she thought the words, she froze. _Left_. He certainly wouldn't left without saying anything, without a reason. Not now they were together and happy.

But there was an annoying small voice in her head that kept saying maybe she was so caught up in her own happiness she didn't realized something was wrong with him. And every time she tried to push it away, the voice kept showing her all these very reasonable arguments, which made her pace back and forth in her room, and drive her insane.

When she couldn't take it anymore, she stormed out of the room, demanding the guards to leave her alone. She went down the stairs, and out of the castle, while the rose-orange shades of the setting sun framed her whole silhouette, making her look like a fallen angel, who in the fall, ended up breaking its heart.

* * *

Damn, he was late. He wasn't expecting it to be easy but didn't really think finding an engagement ring could be this hard. He was supposed to be back two hours ago, but only now could he find the thing. It was worth it, though.

He took the little velvet box from his pocket for the fifth time and admired the ring that had once belonged to Snow's mother. He heard that Ravenna had thrown it away along with the jewelry that belonged to Eleanor, and they were now in a small jewelry shop in the other village, so he personally came to rescue all of them, only to find the ring missing. Since he couldn't propose to Snow without a ring, and doubted he could find any other more perfect for her, he went on a quest to find it. It took him eight hours and three more villages, but he found it, and now it was time for it to go to its rightful owner.

He looked at the skies and realized the sun was already low. He cursed again. He would probably only get home when the sun had already set, which interfered a bit with his plans, but nothing to drastic, he hoped.

He put the ring on his pocket and mounted his horse, mentally preparing the most important speech of his life.

* * *

For how long she had been walking she could not tell, but it was almost too dark to be out now and her feet were beginning to hurt, so she decided to go back. She sighed sadly. Maybe, just maybe, he would be there when she arrived, with a big smile on his face and a good excuse for his disappearing today.

She was just approaching the palace doors when she felt someone grab her by the waist, and a hand covering he mouth, dragging her to the bushes. She was already about to give her aggressor her best punch when an all too familiar voice calmed her.

"Shhh, Snow, it's me, Eric!" She stopped beating herself and he released her. "God, you've grown stronger" He smiled at her, but she still looked quite crossed. Not to mention confused. "I'm sorry I grabbed you like this, but I have something really important to show here" He began to walk further into the garden, but stopped at the mist of hurt and irritation in her voice.

"So you just go away without a single goodbye, leaving me to wonder all sorts of things, comes back, attacks me and expect me to just follow you around?" He frowns at this.

"What did you think? That I'd left you not to come back?" When he saw her shifting uncomfortably from one foot to another, he knew that was exactly what she had thought.

She just felt really stupid now for thinking all of those things, but she had lost already so much in her life. Everyone she has ever loved had eventually left her, and when she spent the entire day without hearing from him, she thought the worse. She told him so, tears shinning in her eyes, and he immediately wrapped her up in his arms, holding her as tight as he could.

"I would never leave you, Snow White. Not now I have you and you have me, which was exactly the reason of my absence today, as weird as it may sound." He let her go, but held her hand as he led the way she knew too well. He was leading them to her garden, her favorite place in the whole castle. "You see, there are times I have this awful nightmares where I lose you. They are so real and terrifying I almost cry with relief when I wake up to find you by my side." They went through a dark path, being guided only by the weak candlelight coming from the end of it. "I had one the past night, and when I woke up I knew I had to do it, Snow"

She had been quite during his speech, but couldn't help to interrupt him now.

"I hope this story is going somewhere, huntsman, cause you are very much confusing now." In spite her words, Eric noted her tone was lighter, which managed to calm his racing heartbeats for a little while.

"Close your eyes" he instructed with a smile, and she commanded, also smiling.

He guided her a few more steps then stopped.

"Open them" He sounded apprehensive, so she opened her eyes to find him standing in front of the fountain, candles lighting up the place beautifully. There were several fireflies flying around, giving a magical touch to the scenario, which only made her remember the Sanctuary.

She was so enchanted by all of it, she barely realized his approaching. He did realized, however, when he slowly dropped to one knee and opened a small box that contained nothing less than her mother's ring.

He opened his mouth to speak, taking advantage of her shock to just say it all at once before he forgot something or got too nervous to speak.

"Snow White, Muir once told me that you were life itself, and upon seeing what you've done to this land, and how you've healed people, I can do nothing but agree. Only I would add that you're not just life itself. You are my life as well, Snow, for my heart, my soul, and everything I am belongs to you. Now and forever." She felt the tears running down her face but didn't bother to clean them up. He took one deep breath before going on. "I love you with everything I have, my Snow, and thought most of people are satisfied with you as their queen, I'm not. Not until you become my queen _and_ my wife" she laughed, and he smiled at her.

He took the ring off the box and slid it down her finger. "Marry me, Snow White"

She nodded and laughed at the same time "Yes, I'll marry, my huntsman"

He got up and kissed her passionately, while the moonlight made her ring shine as bright as the stars. Not as bright, however, than the hearts of the two exultant lovers.

* * *

**Review to let me know what you think, keep going? bacios per tutti **


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